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What to do in the first hour.
Short guides for the searches people type in a panic. Each one points at the playbook with the full checklist.
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Customers charged twice in Stripe, what to doStop duplicate Stripe charges, identify the affected payments, refund confirmed duplicates, and repair retries and webhook handling before reopening checkout.SSL certificate expired, how to fix your websiteFind the expired certificate, repair failed renewal, and check HTTPS at your host, CDN, and origin before sending customers back.GitHub organization hacked, what to doSecure an owner account, stop suspicious Actions runs, export the audit log, and revoke exposed credentials before you restart deployments.How to recover deleted iCloud Drive filesFind deleted iCloud Drive files through Recently Deleted or Data Recovery, understand the 30-day limit, and check your restored documents.Business email hacked, what to do about the wireCall the bank that sent the money and ask for a recall before you tidy the inbox. A new password leaves forwarding and hidden rules behind, and in the United States the report goes to ic3.gov.Hard drive failed and there is no backupA hard drive that clicks should stay powered off. If it is quiet and the computer can see it, copy the files to another disk before you repair, initialize, or erase anything.Home internet not workingCheck a second device and your provider's outage page on mobile data before you reset the router. Restart the modem, wait at least 30 seconds, then the router. A phone hotspot covers urgent work while that runs.Someone is using my Wi-FiAn unfamiliar name on the router is often your own phone. Private Wi-Fi addresses make one Apple device look new. Change the admin password and the Wi-Fi password if a stranger stays after that, or if the router settings changed.Computer won't start after an updateA Mac progress bar can sit still for a long time during an update. If it never moves, use Recovery and reinstall without erasing. On Windows, uninstall the update from the recovery screen before you reset the PC.iCloud deleted all my photosDeleted iCloud Photos sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Recover them there before you empty the album. If iCloud storage is already full, Apple removes those deletions immediately, so check that first.Lost your authenticator app, what to doIf the old phone still turns on, move the authenticator codes before you erase it. If the phone is gone, use a backup code or a second factor you already saved, one account at a time, starting with email.Locked out of your password managerThe company that holds the vault usually cannot read your master password. Unlock a device that is still open, use the emergency kit or the hint, then follow the recovery path for the app you use.Outlook or Hotmail account hacked, what to doHotmail, Live, MSN, and Outlook.com are one Microsoft account. Scan the PC, change the password, then check forwarding, rules, and recent activity. If you cannot sign in, use the sign-in helper before the recovery form.Locked out of Gmail on a new phoneA new phone asks for a code the old phone still holds. Use a backup code, a device that is still signed in, or another second step. If none of those exist, start at g.co/recover from a place you have used before.API key leaked on GitHub, what to doRevoke the key at the company that issued it before you delete the commit. GitHub says a leaked secret is already compromised. Removing the file, pushing a new commit, or deleting the repository does not stop anyone who copied it.Domain expired, what to doSign in at the registrar you already use and renew the domain if it is still in the account. ICANN lets registrars delete a generic domain any time after it expires. A redemption restore is 30 days after deletion, through that same registrar.Laptop stolen, what to doLock the laptop from another device if Find My or Find My Device was already on. Then change the Apple, Microsoft, or Google password, and the email password, from a computer you still have.Facebook account hacked, how to get it backOpen facebook.com/hacked on a device you have used before. If the email changed, the old inbox has a link that puts it back. Then change the password and log the other devices out.Instagram account hacked, what to doIf you can still log in, change the password. Instagram logs other devices out when you do. If the email changed, use the secure my account link from security@mail.instagram.com.SIM swap, what to doCall your carrier from another phone and say the number moved without you. Secure email and the bank from a device you trust before you wait for the signal to come back.Discord account hacked, what to doIf Discord moved the email, use the recovery link sent to the old address within 48 hours. If you can still sign in, change the password, remove apps you do not know, and turn multi-factor authentication on.Crypto wallet drained, what to doA transfer already on the chain usually stays there. Save the hash, move any coins still in the wallet to a new one, and file the details the FBI asks for.YouTube channel hacked, what to doRecover the Google Account that owns the channel first. If you can still sign in, change the password, then delete uploads you did not make, unless those videos already have a strike.PayPal account hacked, what to doIf you can still sign in, change the password on paypal.com and report the payment in the Resolution Center. If the email on the account is no longer yours, call PayPal so they can freeze it while they look.Amazon account hacked, what to doIf you can still sign in, change the password from Your Account and remove cards and addresses you did not add. If the account is on hold, complete Amazon's form, and call your bank for any charge with no matching order.What to do if your phone is stolenMark the phone lost, suspend the SIM, and change your email password before you do anything else. The map pin is for the police.Gmail account hacked, and how to get it backIf you can still sign in, change the password and delete forwarding rules. If you cannot, start at Google's account recovery page. The inbox is the reset switch for everything else.What to do after a data breach noticeRead which data leaked, confirm the notice on the company's own site, then change the password or call the bank that matches that data. A notice is not the same thing as identity theft.Someone is using my credit cardCall the number on the card, say which charges you did not authorise, and follow up in writing. In the US, credit cards and debit cards do not share the same liability limits.Your iCloud account is lockedAn Apple Account locked for security needs a password reset. If you cannot reset it, account recovery can take days, and Apple Support cannot shorten the wait.Your website was hacked. What to do nextTake the site out of the attacker's hands, clean every affected page, then request a review in Google Search Console. Deleting the visible spam and reopening is how it comes back.WhatsApp hacked, how to take the account backRe-register your number with the SMS code. That logs every other device out. Do not report the account first, and do not read the code to anyone.What to do if someone stole your identityCall the company that opened the account, then, in the United States, place a fraud alert and report it at IdentityTheft.gov. A stolen card number is a different problem.Lost your passport abroadReport it to the country that issued it, then ask that country's embassy for an emergency document. A cancelled passport will not get you on the plane, even if you find it later.Ransomware on your home computerUnplug the network, do not pay, photograph the note, and check nomoreransom.org before you wipe the disk. Payment does not guarantee you get the files back.